What's Done Is Done

11When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. 13And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13: 11 - 13 NKJV

I was thinking this week of the many things I did as a young man that, at my present age, I would consider to be foolish behavior.  I can honestly say that in my time I have engaged in more than a few antics.  Some I am glad that I did, others not so much.  I'm guessing that this is the way it plays out for many of us.  I mean, a good upbringing only goes so far and eventually it comes time for us to strike out on our own.  Indeed, my own mother did her very best to raise up a young man, but when my time came it was up to me to find my own way.  That's life as we know it.  I'm guessing that this may have been just what the apostle Paul was refering to in 1 Corinthians 13 where he spoke of putting away those childish things of his own younger days.  Make no mistake about it, that young man Saul definately had his own share of childish behaviors before putting them away for good.  A few of these indiscretions involved the persecution of the early church of the followers of Christ Jesus.  Now, while I've never been involved in the persecution of others, I do not discount what I have once dabbled in.  However, one truth that both Paul and I may  each glory in is the fact that those indiscretions of our youth will no longer be counted against us in the eyes of Christ.  For it is Christ Jesus who became sin on our behalf that those childish things we once engaged in would not be counted against us {2 Corinthians 5:21}.  It is for this very reason that I need not continually seek the grace of my heavenly Fathers forgiveness.  This has already been provided for me by the sacrafice of Christ Jesus on the cross.  As that wise old lion Aslan claimed in C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles Of Narnia..."What's done is done."

"What's done is done...there is no need to speak to Edmund about what is past."
Aslan ~ The Chronicles Of Narnia

I remember golfing with Dennis not so long ago when our conversation turned to...hawks.  See, in that area where we live there seemed to nest a few families of hawks.  Well, on this particular occasion we could hear the squeal of a young hawk at the nest while the parent raptor waited far off, seemingly ignoring the cries of its offspring.  It was Dennis who commented that this was common for hawks, their own way of pushing the young from the nest it had known for that first part of its life.  Eventually, the young hawk would tire of waiting for its parents and strike out to begin to hunt on its own.  I remember how foolish it was for me to feel sorry for that young bird.  This was the cycle of life, one that has been repeated countless times since the dawn of creation.  That young hawk would soon find itself standing by waiting for its own young to find their own way.  Indeed, this is the very same cycle by which we ourselves find ourselves.  When our time comes, we put aside those childish things of our youth and find our own way in the world.  Like the young hawks, we also may struggle with the uncertainty of finding our own way in  unfamiliar situations.  Along our own way to maturity, there may be a time or two where we may make some decisions which might not be, shall we say, wise on our part.  However, the good news of Christ Jesus not only guarantees that He remains in us today {Galations 2:20}, but that those indiscretions of our youth will no longer be held against us in our Lords eyes.  What's done is done.

19Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body gand in your spirit, which are God’s.
1 Corinthians 6: 19 - 20 NKJV

~Scott~